NCAA Tournament Coverage: #1 Pittsburgh vs #4 Xavier

There they were, the Xavier Musketeers, just one minute from a return trip to the Elite Eight. A difficult second half had seemingly been placed in the rearview mirror, and a young team was about to wildly surpass preseason expectations.

Then, a little bit of luck cut against Sean Miller's men. It came from the Fields of Pittsburgh, and it prevented the X from reaching greener pastures.

Levance Fields hit a 25-foot teardrop jumper with 50.9 seconds left to give the top-seeded Panthers a 60-55 win over the fourth-seeded Musketeers in the East Regional semifinals on Thursday night. The gut-wrenching loss in Boston ends Xavier's season, while Pittsburgh advances to meet Big East rival Villanova in the East Regional final at TD Banknorth Garden.

Anyone who knows a thing or two about the sport of basketball would confidently say that the shot that knocked Xavier out of the NCAA Tournament was not a good shot. The events that preceded the game's defining play serve to put the moment in its proper context.

A Pittsburgh team that had attained a 52-47 lead with 4:58 left in regulation suddenly died on the vine over the next four minutes. Nervous turnovers and stage-fright jump shooting ambushed the Panthers immediately after they had seized momentum in addition to their scoreboard advantage. Pitt dug out of an eight-point halftime deficit to throttle Xavier for the first 15 minutes of the second half, but the Musketeers found a second wind at the very moment when their hopes began to flatline. A final injection of energy enabled Xavier to get second-chance points and outwork the Panthers near the rim. A 7-0 run resulted from this stretch of inspired basketball, and as a result, the "X Men" took a 54-52 lead into the final minute of the second half.

Pittsburgh, on the ropes and feeling the pressure of being the heavy favorite, was panicking on its possessions. Despite the length of forward Sam Young and the power of center DeJuan Blair, the boys from Western Pennsylvania weren't working the ball into good positions on the floor. So when Fields hoisted a long, contested three over the arm of a Xavier defender near the end of this white-knuckler in New England, basketball experts everywhere had to cringe in exasperation. The shot was a bad shot on the raw merits. Fields, a tough senior guard from the playgrounds of Brooklyn, made a panic move by launching what was, in essence, a prayer.

Unfortunately for Xavier, it was answered.

When the ball splashed through the hoop, a bad shot became a source of short-term celebration for the Panthers. The No. 1 seed might not have won the game with the shot, but it certainly avoided losing.

As unlucky as the Musketeers were on the Fields heave, the fact remains that the Atlantic 10 champions still had a chance to re-take the lead and advance to Saturday's regional final. However, Blair hedged and created a steal that Fields took to the other end for a layup and a 57-54 Panther lead. Free throws cemented Pittsburgh's advantage, and at the end, Coach Jamie Dixon's Big East beast had a fortuitous five-point victory.

Watching a bad shot tickle the twine at crunch time has to give Miller, his assistant coaches, and his team a sick feeling. With that having been acknowledged, Xavier wouldn't have been in position to lose on a lucky shot had the Musketeers protected the ball better at the start of the second half. An avalanche of turnovers--some of which created easy baskets for Pitt at the other end of the floor--caused Xavier's 37-29 halftime lead to immediately evaporate, setting the stage for the nail-biting finish that didn't cut in the Musketeers' favor.

Consider this game a lesson learned by a team that should be in many experts' Final Four projections next year. Without crucial ballhandling lapses and brief but fatal dips in concentration, next year's Xavier squad should thrive even more in the white-hot spotlight that is March Madness.

Atlantic 10 Conference Basketball Fans

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